Hover Beyond
by NuclearCookout
Summary: After Snively killed Robotnik, everything changed. Now, a new threat has emerged. Can the Freedom Fighters stop a rogue faction from nuking Station Square? TailsxOC. Sequel to Hover Beside. The finale is finally up! Please review! Action/Violence
1. Chapter 1

Sorry about the hiatus. I've been busy with numerous, highly important tasks over the past three weeks (okay okay, Second Life). I'll probably end up editing this chapter later on; I feel it may have been a bit rushed, though I hope you enjoy it regardless. More to come!

Hover Beyond

The May Sun shone brilliantly on a lush meadow west of Knothole, which caused the dew on the verdant expanse to shimmer like gemstones. Tails smiled softly at his ashen-furred girlfriend of four years as they sat on a large picnic sheet. Two picnic baskets, stuffed with a cornucopia of food, lay on one of the edges of the big cloth square. The temperature was rather warm, but a gentle breeze made it feel delightful.

Kaolin peered across the countryside, and a whimsical grin traveled across her muzzle. She whispered, "Such a gorgeous day," before looking back at Tails with her large blue eyes. Her enigmatic irises were enhanced by the radiant sunlight, adding to her allure.

The eighteen-year-old orange fox nodded his agreement, then leaned over and picked a dazzling flower. He said, "For you, my love," as he handed it to his girlfriend.

She daintily grabbed the flower and said while examining it, "I've never seen this kind before. It's beautiful!"

"Its beauty pales in comparison to yours by many orders of magnitude."

"Oh, Tails, you know better than to hit me with such blatant exaggeration," replied Kaolin with a chuckle as she playfully pushed Tails on the shoulder.

"It's fact. It's total fact. That flower's got nothing on you, Lin."

As Kaolin twirled the flower between her fingers, Tails thought about the special shimmering object he had in his pocket. It was a striking engagement ring he had bought a week prior, and he was waiting for the perfect occasion to pop the grand question. Was that moment the perfect occasion?

Over at the Freedom Fighters headquarters, Sonic and Sally were sitting on a couch and lazily watching MadTV, snerking occasionally at the jokes and gags. Sonic's left hand was resting on Sally's right hand, which bore a gold wedding ring. They had been married for almost a year.

"Sally."

"Yes Sonic?"

"Do you prefer taquitos with or without cheese, and how would your choice affect the economic world?"

She stared at the blue hedgehog with the most confused mien she had ever shown, and commented, "Sonic...that is the most random question you have asked me since we met. Are you feeling alright?"

Sonic grinned and replied, "I'm feeling nice and random right now, but seriously, what do you think?"

Sally glanced at the TV, hesitant to answer, and still showing obvious befuddlement, but she sighed and relented, "With cheese. I believe that my purchase of said cheese would have more of an economic impact than if I had not purchased it. I would be added to the group of millions of other denizens who had also bought cheese, thereby contributing to a large market. The companies see profit, and they expand, bringing cheese to even more people. And stuff. Does that answer your question, hon?"

Sonic answered not, as he was giggling absurdly at another skit. Before she could complain, a news report suddenly interrupted their entertainment. There had been an explosion just outside of Station Square a few minutes earlier, allegedly caused by the rupturing of a large gas line. There were no reports of injuries, and the program resumed shortly thereafter.

"Gotta love explosions," muttered a smiling Knuckles as he sat next to Julie-Su.

Around fifteen minutes later, Sonic's cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, looked at the caller identification, and recognized the number as one belonging to Mighty the Armadillo. With raised eyebrows, he answered, "Sup, Mighty?"

"You might want to put this on speaker, because I have very important information concerning the explosion you probably just heard about on the news," said the armored ally.

Sonic activated the speaker-phone setting, set the phone on a table, and gave the go ahead.

"Freedom Fighters, that explosion was no gas line rupture, it was a missile. We think it was a fuel leak that caused a Titan XV ICBM to explode within its silo near Station Square, throwing the three W153 thermonuclear warheads some distance away. Only one of three warheads was found. What's frightening is that each warhead contains a tracking device for just such an occasion, but there is no signal coming from the missing two. We believe they are in the hands of a rogue faction called Ferox Mandatum that has been operating heavily within the area."

Everyone in the room was in shock, and silence endured for a short while. Bunny was the first to speak up, "How big of an explosion can those bombs make?"

Mighty sighed, "Each warhead has a sixty-five megaton yield capability. If that group finds out how to arm and set the yield of those warheads, many millions of people could die."

"That's very...disconcerting news," said Rotor a he held a mug of coffee. He set it down on a table to prevent it from spilling, as his hands were beginning to shake from the startling report.

Mighty responded, "Indeed. We already have professionals on the case, but it would be good for you guys to come and see what you can find." The armadillo cleared his throat out of mild anxiety.

"Looks like we have another mission on our hands, guys. Let's gather our gear and get to it," exclaimed Sally as she switched off the TV, much to Sonic's dismay. The entire group was visibly worried.

Meanwhile, Amy, who had heard absolutely none of the conversation, was attempting to order pizza over a different phone.

"We can cut that in four, six, eight, ten, or twelve pieces, ma'am," said the employee.

"You might want to cut it into eight. I don't think I can eat more than that."

"Um...it's still the same amount of pizza."

"Oh. In that case, make it six slices."

The employee rubbed his face and replied, "Alright, six slices it is. Anything else?"

"A cheeseburger would be nice."

"We're a pizza restaurant."

"So?"

"We don't serve burgers. We serve pizza. Only pizza."

"What about breadsticks?"

"That's different. We do serve those."

"So why not burgers?"

"Burgers aren't Italian"

"Do you serve pasta?"

"No."

"Why not? That's Italian."

"Technically it's Chinese. Look, do you want pizza or not?"

"Absolutely."

"Alrighty, we'll have that out to you in about twenty minutes."

"Do you serve burritos?"

The employee hung up just in time for Sally to tap Amy on the shoulder, and the pink hedgehog nearly flew out of her skin.

"Whoa, um, hey Amy. We have another mission."

Amy simply looked at the anthropomorphic chipmunk for a few moments. She still harbored a considerable amount of bitterness over the fact that Sonic had chosen Sally over her, but she eventually smiled and answered, "Hey, I'm ready."

"Good!" exclaimed Sally. She turned her attention away from the jealous Amy and directed it at Antoine, "Ant, if you would, go make Tails and Kaolin aware of the situation, please."

The coyote replied, "Oui, mademoiselle!" before rushing out the door and toward the hill, upon which sat the vulpine couple.

--

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
MadTV © Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment  
The different-slices-same-pizza scenario was derived from a similar real-life occurrence  
Kaolin, story, etc © NuclearCookout


	2. Chapter 2

BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER, please go back to Ch.1, as I have polished it and added another scene.

--

Chapter Two

Antoine rushed to the hill as fast as he could, though it didn't take him long since it was naught but a minute's jog. Tails and Kaolin noticed Antoine on his approach, as well as his concerned facial expression, and knew that something was up. Tails reluctantly decided that his proposal should wait until another day, and prepared himself for the impending report. Antoine alerted the foxes of the dire situation, and they quickly joined the rest of the team on their journey to the blast site.

During the flight, which would take a decent amount of time, Kaolin thought back to the adventures Tails took her on over the prior four years, and each memory brought a happy grin. Tails saw her smiling and put an arm over her shoulders, and they enjoyed each other's company for the remainder of the trip.

Upon arrival, the craft was set down in a clearing, and everyone hopped out to survey the wreckage. A large, smoking crater was all that remained of where the silo once lay in the ground.

Julie Su stared at the crater in awe and said, "Whoo, that is some crater," as she planted her hands on her hips.

Next to Julie-Su stood her lifemate, Knuckles, who added, "The result of high-grade ballistic missile fuel. Look at how the ground was glassed, even at a good distance away."

Mighty was signing some documents when he noticed his allies. He smiled and began to make his way over to the heroes.

"Greetings Mighty," said Rotor as he looked at glassed ground. The faint sound of crackling could be heard due to the temperature variations amongst the large sheet of solidified sand.

Mighty grinned as he clasped his hands behind his back, and replied, "Salutations, fellows. We're making some progress, but so far, there's no solid evidence of the faction's hand in this."

"Which faction are you referring to?" Tails asked.

Mighty's expression grew more grave, "It's the one led by Fiona...well, she used to lead it. She went missing a few months ago, and we have evidence which shows, and you probably won't believe this, that Big the Cat has been appointed as the new leader of Ferox Mandatum."

Everyone looked at him as though he was insane.

"Ehm...Big's...kind of...an idiot. Like, a colossal idiot," commented Knuckles with a befuddled tone. The others silently nodded their agreement, and Sally flinched because the idea sounded so absurd.

"It appears as though he was just playing dumb all these years. Recent intel points to him being a drug lord as well," replied the armadillo.

"I seriously...did not see that coming," commented Sally with wide eyes and a raised eyebrow.

Still in disbelief, Sonic added, "Whoa, so, wait, how could someone keep up such a ruse for THAT long? We've known him for years!"

Mighty continued, "Some people will go to great lengths when it comes to protecting something valuable. We also have evidence that he treats people who 'know too much' very brutally, more so than Fiona did. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he had her knocked off. What better than to have a sizeable militia to back your drug empire?"

A nervous Kaolin put a hand on her holstered gun and ran her fingers along the cold, dark-gray steel. The thought of brutality brought back distressing memories of her run-in with Bean the Dynamite four years prior.

"Hmm...wer wud ze clue be hiding...wer wud I hide eef I waz a clue... " Antoine speculated.

Shortly after Bunny began her part of the search, she literally stumbled upon a clue -- one big footprint. "Guys, Ah reckon Ah found sumpthin' here. Looks ta be a footprint of sorts. A really...REALLY big one."

Mighty approached Bunny with a pleased demeanor and said, "One made by a 616-pound feline, apparently. Looks like you found our first clue. The question is, why is there only one?"

Kaolin added, "Perhaps Big did it on purpose. As a signature, so to speak."

"Good point, Lin. He could've flown in with a hoverpack and intentionally left a single footprint," Tails said as he lovingly placed his arm around the small of Kaolin's back.

Some of Mighty's associates quickly took samples of the dirt in the footprint, analyzed them, and concluded that Big's DNA was indeed present. Again pleased, Mighty said, "The next question is, where are they holed up?"

--

Sorry for the MASSIVE delay. One distraction right after another. This chapter was very short as well, but the next chapter will most likely be longer and contain MUCH more action. I hope it won't take another month, or even two weeks. It might be less than a week if I put my mind to it, but I can offer no promises. Thank you for reading, and keep a lookout for chapter three!

Sonic characters/places are copyright of Sonic Team/Sega

Story/Kaolin, etc, are copyright of myself, NuclearCookout


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This took a little longer than planned (distractions, heh), but here it is, and thank you for your patience. There's a lot more action in this chapter, so brace yourselves and enjoy!

--

Chapter 3

Big extinguished his cigar in an ashtray on a large, circular table in the middle of a dark and disheveled room, and briefly glanced at the large-caliber pistol that lay in front of him. Encircling the table were various members of Big's faction, Ferox Mandatum, and each wore an insidious grin. It was a business meeting of sorts; the faction was there to discuss their main plan.

"According to our sources, the plan is going extremely well. All of the people and objects are in place," said one of the senior members, a large grizzly bear by the name of Ambrose.

Big clasped his hands on the table and said with a subtle smile, "Good. It appears as though we can move forward with our agenda, then. However, there is one thing I would like to take care of before proceeding. It has come to my attention that information was leaked about our meeting." Big's men nervously glanced at one another, and their leader continued, "One of my sentries found a spy in a tree a few hundred yards away, and it was quickly disposed of. There is no way it or anybody else could have known, so we have a leak."

A few of the officers chuckled at Big's reference of the spy as an 'it', but their amusement was brief. Big looked over at one of the officers, a cacomistle by the name of Erik, and queried, "Erik, what was the purpose of you leaking information?"

Erik stolidly looked at his boss and replied, "Why are you accusing me? I didn't leak information."

Big grabbed his gun and fired a shot past Erik's ear, causing everyone in the room to flinch. Big exclaimed, "Do you think I'm (expletive) STUPID? Do you? I have informants everywhere and you know it! You have a lot of nerve to lie to my face like that."

Shivering, Erik responded after a gulp, "Oh-oh-okay, I told a friend because he said he needed to know where to donate some weapons. I trusted him, and I did it for the good of the group! I know how much you enjoy getting more weapons."

"You did it...for the good of the group?" asked Big, still obviously upset. When Erik replied with a "yes", Big looked at him, smiled, and shot him in the neck. Erik tumbled backwards from the force of the bullet, which had been shot from an exceptionally large pistol, landed on the floor, and bled to death in a matter of seconds. As the remaining officers squirmed uneasily in their chairs, Big set the smoking gun back down on the table and said, "Let that be a reminder to all of you. Never, and I mean NEVER, tell anyone and anyone at all about our meetings. Ever." The group uttered a collective "Yes sir", and Big continued, "Since that is now taken care of, we can get back to the matter at hand. Since everything is ready, it is time to initiate the preliminary stages."

--

Back at the blast site, the group continued to stand idly and speculate, and anxiety was running high. The only lead they had was DNA, but that didn't seem to say anything besides Big having had a hand, or foot in this case, in the theft of the nukes. Amy was searching for more clues with Sally and NICOLE, and a conversation was struck.

"I'm really worried about this ordeal, Sally. What if they do nuke a major city?" nervously asked Amy as she peered behind a rock.

Sally sighed apprehensively and answered, "Well, depending on if they used the highest setting, millions would die instantly. The diameter of the blast would be about fifty miles, and an area one-hundred-fourty miles wide would be scorched by the resulting heat wave." The explanation only added to Amy's trepidation.

NICOLE's lights suddenly started flickering, and she said, "Sally, I have detected a disruption in the local TV feeds. It is affecting all of them, and the transmission satellites overhead as well. It appears as though someone is hacking in."

"NICOLE, show me one of the channels on your screen. I want to see what's going on," requested Sally. NICOLE displayed a random television channel, and what started as flickering static rapidly transformed into Big's shrouded face. One of the workers at the blast site was watching TV on his break, and he alerted everyone around him of the developing situation.

"Greetings, people of Station Square," proclaimed the large cat with dark enthusiasm in his voice, "I have hijacked your television channels in order to bring you disquieting news. Your city will be leveled by a nuclear device in twenty minutes, courtesy of myself. Consider this restitution for all of the 'business deals' that have been ruined due to the investigative force present in Station Square."

Silence prevailed briefly throughout the city, followed by confusion and speculation, then resulting in panic. For a while, everyone at the silo blast site was speechless, but the silence was broken by Mighty, "That's all the proof we need." The armadillo radioed his men to gather their gear and prepare to search for the nuclear device before it was too late. He knew, however, that it was probably futile. Station Square was huge, and it would take a lot longer than twenty minutes to find the bomb without more leads.

"How deed zey plant it so fast?!" exclaimed Antoine, fur raised slightly from alarm.

Mighty replied, "This attack must have been planned a good while ago, meaning a drop point for the nuke had already been determined."

"What will we do?" asked Amy shortly after she and Sally returned. NICOLE was still silently analyzing the situation.

"I have ordered my men to begin a search in the city, although I am doubtful it will get us anywhere," said Mighty as he looked into the distance. It was a very palliative and picturesque view from the silo site, and he took in the scenery with particular attention, as he knew that it may be his last day on Mobius. With similar feelings, Antoine and Bunny tenderly held hands, as did Tails and Kaolin, Knuckles and Julie-Su, and Sonic and Sally.

"Wait a minute," added NICOLE, "I saw something in the background, through a window in the room Big was broadcasting from. My database contains a layout of the city, and shows that Big was in a certain building within a neighborhood in the southeast corner of the city."

The gang thanked NICOLE for her helpfulness, and as Mighty began walking to his ship, he continued, "Excellent, we just might have a chance now. Let's get on it!"

The two groups hurriedly boarded their transports, and made their way to the target building. Thoughts raced though each of their heads, but more so in Kaolin's. Her tormented past was still amplifying the mental distraught associated with such situations, though less than it used to, and fear was taking a foothold within her psyche. She noticed this, and tried to subdue her fear as best she could. Even if they were to die that day, they'd end up in a better place, and that provided her with some solace.

They rapidly arrived at the building NICOLE had led them to, and scrambled to each of the two entrances; the Freedom Fighters at one, and Mighty's unit at the other. NICOLE scanned the structure for lifeforms and robots, and though she detected no danger in that regard, she discovered what they had come for.

"NICOLE, what do you detect in the building?" asked Sally.

The supercomputer replied, "I have detected no organic or cybernetic agents, but there is a highly radioactive object in the center of the uppermost floor. The radiation is contained mainly within the object, but we must proceed with utmost caution. Mighty's team already has what they need for safety, so they should proceed first."

Mighty's men, who had donned protective gear on the way, plowed-open the door and raced upstairs, Freedom Fighters in tow. They reached the top floor of the three-story building, and slowly approached the room that the nuke was supposedly in. Double-checking for booby traps, they entered the room and saw what they had both feared and hoped was there - a large nuclear warhead, complete with a digital timer. Two of the nuclear technicians, a husky and a skink, approached the ticking device with the necessary equipment. It took around fifteen seconds for them to discover something else surprising - the device was nothing more than an empty warhead shell.

"It's...empty?" inquired Sonic with a tone of relief in his voice. The Freedom Fighters looked at each other with delighted smiles, but Mighty's team knew what it meant. It was a decoy.

A blinding flash penetrated the windows shortly thereafter. Two-hundred-fifty miles away, to the northeast, a city of over three-million beings was reduced to a glowing crater. As soon as enough of the light subsided, a colossal mushroom cloud could be seen rising in the distance. They would feel the groundquake minutes later. Nobody could bring themselves to speak at the moment, and they ran up to the roof to get a better glimpse of what had occurred.

"I should have guessed. One of Big's faction's most hated rivals had a very strong presence in the city that I believe just got wiped off the map," said Mighty as a tear ran down his face.

A saddened Bunny commented in her characteristic Southern accent, "Ah can't...Ah can't believe it...so many folks killed s'fast," and drew closer to her husband, Antoine. They continued to watch the rising toroidal vortex, still quite luminous from the titanic amount of energy released from such a massive explosion, but as they mourned the millions lost, another imminent danger presented itself. A 'ZIK' sound was heard, and one of Mighty's men fell to the floor with a small hole in his chest. More members of the unit fell as more sniper rounds were fired, and the remaining people scrambled for cover. A bullet ricocheted off of one of Bunny's metallic legs, sending it in a direction that caused it to graze Rotor's wrist, and another penetrated one of Knuckles' dreadlocks. A bullet passed through Kaolin's left ear as she shouted for Tails to get behind a large air conditioning unit. She ignored the pain, took cover, drew her pistol, and returned fire to where the sniper rounds were originating. The attack stopped briefly enough to allow the remainder of Mighty's group to race downstairs and toward the sniper's building, and Kaolin took that chance to look around and see if her teammates were okay. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Tails on the floor, bleeding.

"TAILS!" screamed Kaolin as she sped blindly out into the open to grab her orange boyfriend and drag him to safety. The sniper was too busy hiding from offensive fire from Mighty's group in the alley to notice her activities. She dragged Tails behind the large machine and held him in her arms. There were two large bullet wounds, entrance and exit, in his right shoulder, and he was bleeding considerably, losing more coherence as the seconds passed. "Tails, hang in there! It's just a shoulder shot!" In fact, the bullet had grazed an artery and severed a major nerve, and the vulpine hero was suffering more so from severe shock than blood loss. She rapidly grabbed her medical kit and applied small surgical towels and gauze to stop the bleeding. The gray fox continued to try and keep the shivering Tails awake, saying, "Don't give up on me! It isn't a life-threatening wound! Stay strong! Don't quit!"

He looked into her eyes, weakly, and said, "I...love you...Kaolin." Tears streamed down her muzzle as she fervently attempted to keep him alive, and she kissed him just as he did four years prior, but it was too late.

Tails died in her arms.

--

Much more to come in chapter four!

Sonic characters and places are copyright of Sonic Team/Sega

Kaolin, other original characters and ideas, and the story itself are copyright of myself, NuclearCookout


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Little bro!" shouted Sonic in tears as he saw Kaolin lay Tails' limp body on the roof's surface. She attempted CPR, but it did nothing, and her expression was that of utter shock and profound dismay. She couldn't even think straight; the event had sent proverbial shockwaves through her mind. Everything transformed into a dreamlike haze, that is, until she slowly looked down and saw a small box that had rolled out of Tails' pocket. Slowly, she picked it up, opened it, and saw an engagement ring. A deluge of memories of all the things she and Tails had done over the years suddenly rushed through her head, and she began weeping bitterly. The love of her life, the one person who she would've wanted to spend the remainder of her existence on Mobius with, was gone.

It wasn't until she heard, "Die you (expletive) furries, DIE!" that her sadness began to subside, and her anger began to emerge to replace it. It was the sound of Snively's voice. How he was still alive after their last encounter six months earlier was a mystery to her, but none of that mattered at that point, as all she wanted to do from then on was to stop Snively once and for all. While her friends sat in despondency, Kaolin reloaded her pistol, glanced at her teammates with a visage of both depression and solid determination, and launched into the air using her two tails. The Freedom Fighters tried to follow, but were immediately pinned down by more sniper fire. The gray fox circled a nearby skyscraper, soared back, and performed a spin-dash through one of the windows in the room Snively was holed-up in. She pushed herself off a wall with her feet and propelled herself into Snively, sending them careening through a different wall, and the rifle under a couch. Expecting an either nonexistent or weak retaliation, she didn't feel the need to be totally on guard when she hopped off of him. She would regret that after a metal fist struck her face, which sent the vulpine over a desk and into a chair.

"Kaolin, Kaolin, I'm sure you weren't expecting that, were you? You must have been expecting the frail weakling who had been defeated so easily during our 'meetings' over the past four years," bloviated the former lackey of Robotnik.

Kaolin's head was pounding from the blow, but she got back up with ease. She nearly gasped when she gazed upon her longtime enemy. His entire left arm, left leg, left hip, and his lower right leg, right hand and left eye were all cyberized. He also had a flashing device on his neck, apparently a voice modulator.

"Yes, this is what became of me after the explosion at Mercia," he said with a dark and somewhat robotic voice. "You and Tails thought you finally had me beaten, but I had other plans. I'm going to enjoy annihilating you, just as I enjoyed putting a bullet into that fuzzy orange stain who did this to me. By the way, seeing as how he isn't accompanying you, I'd say the shot was fatal, wasn't it?"

Kaolin lost it. Completely ignoring her gun, she tackled Snively and punched him repeatedly, only to be thrown across the room at high speed. Her ferocity appeared to have reawakened Snively's deep-seated insecurities, and he sprinted through a doorway and into a hall, leading to a pursuit. He shot back at her using an energy weapon in one of his hands, but Kaolin avoided the blasts by running inside some of the rooms during the chase, and she frequently returned fire. One of her bullets damaged his weapon hand, and he kept running. Snively eventually ended up in a room with no exits, and Kaolin dove in as he chucked random objects at her. The fox then took cover behind a filing cabinet and shot Snively's cybernetic legs until they were beyond function, and he fell to the floor.

"Give up, Snively, you're cornered!" shouted Kaolin while keeping a close eye on his hands. As he tried to toss a lamp at her, she shot off his right hand, and he conceded defeat with a scowl. "Now, how did you know where we were this time?"

"Take a good guess, furball," said Snively with a rude tone. His voice was breaking from the pain associated with so many biocybernetic connections having been damaged.

It immediately occurred to her that he was tipped off by Big himself, and she snapped, "Where is Big located?" Her gun was aimed right at his forehead, and she struggled to keep her finger from gripping the trigger too tightly. Part of her wanted him dead immediately, but she knew what Tails would think if she were to kill him out of vengeance.

With a grin, Snively replied, "Heh, you want to know? Fine, I'll tell you. There is a telephone booth four blocks south of here. It contains information that you will find useful."

Puzzled as to why he gave her the information so easily, she prepared to ask him of his intentions. Before she could ask, however, he aimed one of his left-hand fingers at her, and launched it. The grappling-hook-like appendage penetrated her upper-left leg and exited through the other side, barely missing the bone, and she pulled the trigger after shouting in pain. Snively slumped to the floor, dead from a bullet wound to the head. As Kaolin growled from the intense pain, she used a multitool to sever the grappling line and pull out the remainder of the object. A small stream of blood ran down from each wound, and she used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. After the pain subsided enough for mental clarity to resume, she began to absorb just what had happened. She looked over at Snively's body, and realized that she had taken a life. Coupled with the knowledge of Tails' absence from the world, she dropped her gun, stumbled back into a wall, and wept as she slid down to the floor. It was simply too much to bear at once. More memories presented themselves, and Kaolin remembered the time when Tails talked about death. She remembered his words, "Do not lose heart if I die, because we'll see each other again. You must keep going, keep fighting, keep persisting, and stay hopeful. I thank my Creator for you, Kaolin, and He will keep you strong 'til the end." It was that phrase which drove her to get back up, wipe the tears away, and go tell her friends of the development.

When she returned, a blanket had already placed over Tails' body, and the Freedom Fighters were making their way through the building that Kaolin was just occupying. She dolefully glanced at the body of the orange hero, remembered his inspiring words, and sped back to alert her teammates of the news. They and Mighty's team accompanied her to the telephone booth south of their location, and a somber silence prevailed along the way, save for a few orders that Mighty gave to his unit.

--

Author's note: I plan to include more info on the Mercia event in another story. If you thought this chapter was intense, wait until chapter five. Thank you for reading!

Sonic characters and places are copyright of Sonic Team/Sega

Kaolin, other original characters and ideas, and the story itself are copyright of myself, NuclearCookout


	5. Chapter 5

--

Chapter Five

Kaolin and the two teams quickly arrived at the phone booth, and NICOLE scanned it and the surrounding area for threats. None were found, and Kaolin insisted on being the one to discover the evidence, not only because she felt that it had become more of her responsibility, but if there was a booby trap that NICOLE couldn't detect, she didn't want more of her friends to die. She circumspectly entered the booth, searched it, and found a small hologram projector underneath the phone unit. Seconds after she had grasped it, it activated and displayed Big's face.

The recording said, "If you are observing this, then you survived my assassin, Snively. Good for you. Unfortunately, it was all for naught, as the likelihood of you dying in the next nuclear blast is quite high. However, since I am not entirely merciless, I'll go ahead and tell you where to visit. There is a building just north of the tallest skyscraper downtown, and in front of the entrance to the basement parking area is a clichéd nondescript white van. I'll let you figure it out from there. Don't worry about snipers or booby traps, because I've done away with that for now."

Everyone stood in confusion. Why would Big want to give them a chance to ruin his plans unless it was another ambush? As the two groups spoke amongst themselves, Mighty declared, "Let us proceed."

Astonished, Sally exclaimed, "What?! Are you seriously considering going through with this? It's obvious that it's another trap!"

"We can't ignore the chance of it being legitimate," said the armadillo, "We need to make sure."

NICOLE added, "I will be scanning heavily, so if there are any threats, I will let you all know."

"My men will be on high guard as well. I know this seems illogical, but it has to be done," concluded Mighty.

Sally and other members who were either against or ambivalent on the subject broke through their discordance and proceeded. Kaolin knew the risks just as well as anyone, but she went along with it regardless. It was a necessity in her mind. She had to help stop that purple maniac. The groups entered their corresponding ships, and took off for the heart of Station Square. As she sat in her seat, Kaolin noticed a considerable amount of pain was returning to the wound in her leg. She figured that all of the movement was irritating it, and hoped that it wouldn't get infected. Perhaps worse than the wound itself was that it reminded her of Snively, and how Snively stole the life of her best friend. A lump began to form in her throat, and she struggled to restrain the incipient tears.

When the two transports came within range, NICOLE scanned the immediate area and the outlying areas. When nothing came up, she scanned the building in question and found, in the basement, five large lifeforms and another radioactive object. She then deep-scanned the radioactive object, unlike before, and found that it was indeed the nuke they were after. The teams set their ships down one block south and cautiously approached the tower, some with guns drawn, others with fists, speed, and agility ready, and a few with both at their disposal.

"Careful, two of them are mobilizing. The subjects are each armed with an extremely high-caliber projectile weapon and heading out the back of the building toward the south," warned NICOLE with a tone of urgency. As Mighty's men nervously and attentively held their guns to their shoulders, a flash emanated from an alley, a very loud shot was heard, and a blast followed. One of Mighty's ship's engines suddenly combusted after being hit with an explosive fourty-millimeter tungsten slug, and remainder of the ship was engulfed in roaring flames. A moment before the second shot was fired, NICOLE activated the automated pilot in the Freedom Fighters' ship which guided it high above the clouds to safety, and the projectile instead entered the first floor of an adjacent building and blew out the windows. While Mighty's unit, four operatives in total, prepared to neutralize the threat, he shouted for the Freedom Fighters to continue. They approached the white van...and were confronted by the grizzly bear, Ambrose, and his associate, a muscular binturong by the name of Uri.

As he grinned, Ambrose asked, "Going somewhere?" while holding a large crowbar and tapping it menacingly on his hand. Uri was holding a large wrench and grinning slightly less than his comrade, though his confidence had an equal amount of resolve.

"Y'all best be gettin' outta tha way iffin' ya plan ta make it out without a bunch'a bruises," threatened Bunny as she readied her cybernetic left arm.

With a malevolent glimmer in his eye, Ambrose boldly took a step forward and continued, "Heh, I doubt you'll be able to do much, missy."

"Ah'm fixin' t-..."

Before Bunny could finish, Julie-Su exclaimed, "We don't have time for this," and shot at both of the thugs with her proton blaster. However, the discharges disintegrated against their personal energy shields, leaving nothing more than glowing ripples over the surfaces.

"Did you feel something, Uri?"

"Nope, aside from a sudden pulse of stupidity originating from these clowns."

"I'd say it's time to make these clowns frown."

Ambrose and Uri subsequently attacked the heroes, both with relentless and brutal intent. The howling bear charged like a freight train at Bunny and swung the heavy crowbar with enough force to shatter some of the concrete from a pillar after she ducked. Antoine ran to aid his wife, sword glistening in the fulgent sunlight, but nearly had the wind knocked out of him when Uri's wrench collided with his abdomen. As Uri prepared to shatter his skull, Sonic rushed over and kicked Uri in the face, sending him reeling back a bit and bloodying his nose. Rotor took that chance to tackle Uri to the ground, but the enraged binturong flipped him onto Knuckles and Amy as they tried to assist their embattled friends. Ambrose then set his sights on Sally and Julie-Su, grunted, and lumbered toward them while swinging his crowbar like a nunchaku. Kaolin went over to stop him, but he quickly swatted her out of the way with one of his huge paws, and she hit the ground hard enough to throw her equilibrium for a loop. As she struggled to get to her feet, she noticed that she had been thrown very close to the basement parking entrance. When she saw that the others were handling Ambrose and Uri more effectively, she ran inside. Part of her desired to stay and help, but she knew that the nuke, which likely had a running timer, was a higher priority, and that's what drove her to go in alone.

None of the lights were on, so it was rather dark, and there were dozens of hovercars that had been abandoned during the evacuation, each sitting on their extended landing skids in tranquility. The ashen fox drew her gun and cautiously, but quickly, moved between the vehicles in the direction of the ramp leading down to the level below. Her pace suddenly slowed as the already irritating pain in her leg began to increase sharply, and she adjusted the bandages in the hopes of dulling it. The wound was bleeding again, though less than before, and she couldn't wait for the ordeal to be over so she could give it time to heal. She continued to the ramp and attentively descended into the lower parking level. Similar to the previous room, there were no lights, save for a single fluorescent bulb in the center of the large room. Below the bulb was the second nuclear warhead, surrounded by wires, tables, and a few computers. In a corner, she saw a very large shadow with two protrusions resembling cat ears, and she shouted, "I see you, Big! Give up befo-..." Her threat was silenced by a massive fist which collided with her shoulder, tearing some of the cartilage. The vulpine sailed through the air and slammed into a parked vehicle, and the terrorist revealed himself in greater detail.

"Pathetic, stupid little fox, you guys fell right into my trap," said the huge purple cat in a booming voice, "I knew you would because of the way Mighty thinks. I've known him far too long. I'm guessing you want to stop this nuke, huh? Heh. You'll need to get through me first, tiny thing, and it won't be easy for you."

Her head was throbbing, her ears were ringing, her shoulder felt like it was on fire, and her leg wound was practically screaming. Her trusty gun had escaped her grasp and slid dozens of feet under a different vehicle, and due to its dark color, was almost invisible amongst the tenebrous shadows. When she replayed Tails' encouraging words through her mind, she got back up, dusted herself off, wiped the blood off her face, and looked at Big with a subtle smile. "I'm not through yet, Big. Also, I have a question for you. Why didn't you take the third warhead, and...WHY all of this? WHY did so many people need to die?"

While he kept his eyes on his prey, Big moved closer to the light and responded, "As Mighty may have already stated, one of our main rivals was in that city. I'm not going to answer why I didn't take the third warhead until you prove you can survive me in combat."

Without giving it a second thought, Kaolin took to the air and attacked the massive feline. Even though he was very large, he still retained a formidable amount of reflexes, and Kaolin could barely get a hit in without being blocked or swatted. When she finally managed to get in an exceptionally good facial kick after a terse amount of battling, he grabbed her foot and punched the wound on her upper leg, causing her to shout in pain. The blow, which was directed downward, launched her to the floor, and she nearly lost consciousness when she collided with the cold pavement. The bandages on her leg were soaked with blood, and much of her fur was disheveled from the fight.

Big circled her with a conceited smirk, "So easy. So very easy; disappointing, actually. I might as well tell you my primary intentions in this whole scheme of things. I left the last warhead because, not only did we simply not need a third nuke, I like to leave people guessing, and I'm choosing to reduce Station Square to a smoking hole because, well, you already saw the television feed back there, so there's no need to repeat that." Kaolin quickly tried to crawl under one of the parked vehicles, but Big stomped on her left ankle, breaking it. The resulting scream could be heard outside, but the Freedom Fighters could do nothing due to Ambrose and Uri preventing them from entering the parking area. Tears streamed down Kaolin's muzzle as she groaned from the ardent pain, and she could feel the mounting pressure from the swelling injury. Amused by her anguish, Big continued, "Useless speck of commoner trash. That's all you are - a failure. There is no escape for pieces of nothing like you. You are going to die here along with many of others today. Well, it's doubtful that millions will die, due to the evacuation, but I just want this accursed city gone, even if nobody dies. The only deaths I truly desire see are the deaths of you and your (expletive) friends...but especially you. This is partially out of vengeance, for you see, back during the explosion at Mercia, Snively wasn't the only one affected by the blast. My brother was there, and he wasn't as lucky as Snively. My brother was (expletive) obliterated in that blast, and all because of you and Tails. Of course, Tails is no longer a problem for me, so that just leaves you and the others."

Back outside, the Freedom Fighters were struggling to subdue their attackers. Julie-Su was chucked across the street, and as Knuckles prepared to grab a chunk of concrete to use as a blunt object, a small cloaked attack ship surreptitiously flew from the top of a nearby building. After pulling around to the rear of the building, the ship extended its small landing skids, landed, and the pilot hopped out and sprinted inside.

Big knelt next to Kaolin after pacing around her for a while. "That's right, I know all about Tails' death. Snively allowed me to place a camera in his eye so I could see everything as it happened. I simply had to know if he carried out his job." He grinned, let out a brief chuckle, and continued with a certain poignance, "Indeed, I smiled when his death was practically confirmed. My brother's death has been partially avenged now. The criminal world, and perhaps the world itself, is much better without your orange beau. My only regret is that I didn't get to pull the trigger myself." An unparalleled rage ignited within Kaolin's psyche, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do much. Even if she managed to distract him and take to the air, she didn't have enough energy to maintain an attack. She knew that she was probably going to die by Big's hands that day. Big stared into her blue, tear-filled eyes, pinched the bleeding wound on her left ear, and added, "Just to make absolutely certain you won't escape, I'm gonna break the rest of your limbs before heading out."

Shortly after he said that, he saw part of a shadow flit across the wall of the ramp, and almost inaudible footsteps. He stood up, and that's when a flurry of fists pummeled his chest and face. He rapidly punched his attacker across the room, and the assailant stabilized quickly and stood in place, battle ready. Kaolin immediately recognized the black-latex-clad individual as Fiona Fox.

"That was good Big, but not good enough. I'm here to end this once and for all," proclaimed the agile vixen, tail twitching from the élan of combat.

Irritated, but confident, Big said aloud, "Keep prancing around in that fantasy land of yours, Fiona, and I'll beat you so hard that you'll be stuck there for the rest of your life. You'll even get a free respirator to go along with the experience," and then thought to himself, "She's supposed to be dead...and...I'm really starting to hate foxes. Too many (expletive) foxes around here."

Fiona didn't answer, and instead looked down at the suffering Kaolin, then back at Big. During that brief moment of distraction, Big whipped out a large pistol and began firing at Fiona, who barely managed to jump out of the path of the bullets. In an instant, she drew her own pistol and returned fire. Both opponents were continuously on the move, and close calls were common during the firefight. When they finally ran out of ammunition, they grabbed the nearest blunt object they could find, and went at each other full-force. Both parties sustained injuries, and Big toppled over onto a vehicle and crushed it partially, scattering various automotive parts across the floor. However, the purple feline got the upper hand and badly injured Fiona by plowing his fist into her abdomen and sending her careening into a concrete pillar. She lay at the base of the pillar, bleeding and unconscious, but that wasn't enough for Big. He approached Fiona, lifted her by her shirt, and gave her a final punch in the face before tossing her back to the floor, just to make sure she was out for the count.

Glad the annoying delay in his plans had been taken care of, Big wiped the blood from his mouth and turned his attention back to his original prey with a sadistic glimmer in his eye. Kaolin was still trying to gather more of her energy, and tried desperately to spin her tails fast enough to attain flight when she noticed that Big had won his battle. He popped his knuckles menacingly and appoached her, preparing to maim her before activating the bomb's permanent timer. He knew that if he didn't act soon, Ambrose and Uri might end up losing their fight, and he would have the Freedom Fighters on his back. That's something he simply did not want to deal with. Such a situation could easily be avoided by him simply activating the bomb with a mere press of a button on his belt before finishing Kaolin, but his ego wouldn't have it. The timer had to start ticking after he had thoroughly defeated her.

Kaolin began whimpering as Big got closer and closer; each footstep sent chills up her spine, and she began having transient flashbacks of how Robotnik approached her prison cell when she was next on his list of experimentation subjects all those years ago. As she was about to scream for mercy, a brief whirring was heard, and Big crashed into another parked vehicle and rolled onto the floor, dazed. Kaolin couldn't believe her eyes when she saw who had done it.

"T-...Tails?!"

The orange fox had shot in and kicked Big in the face with all his might, resulting in one of the huge cat's teeth being jettisoned. He stood in place, attempting to catch his breath, and his furious expression turned to joy when he saw that his beloved Kaolin was still alive. "I'm here now, Kaolin. Sorry for the delay." She was overjoyed to see that he had not only survived and returned just in time, but still had room for humor as well. She noticed that his right arm was being held in a sling behind his back, and Tails said, after looking back at Big, "This arm no longer functions, so I'll have to do this with it tied behind my back." He gazed at Kaolin again, noticed her battered state, clenched his fist, and set his sights on Big. Before the brute had a chance to ready himself, Tails went on the attack. He planted a foot on Big's face once again, and flew out of the path of Big's clawed paw as it went for his leg. Furious well beyond his typical threshold, Big grabbed a bumper that had broken off of the vehicle he had landed on, and swung wildly at the airborne fox. Tails dodged the swings with ease and scored numerous hits over the duration of the battle, but sustained a few injuries as well. After a while, Big managed to smack Tails in the back, and the hero fell to the floor. Not taking any chances, Big lumbered to his opponent and lifted him up by the neck, squeezing tightly.

"It ends for you, twin-tailed freak."

That was all the motivation Kaolin needed. In a burst of energy, she grabbed a loose exhaust pipe, flew toward Big as fast as physically possible for her at the moment, and clubbed Big over the skull with all her might. The trenchant jolt caused him to bellow, drop Tails, and fall to his knees. Free from restraint, Tails grabbed a tire iron and whacked Big over the head, and a small amount of blood spattered across the floor. The ogre was out cold.

Exhausted, Kaolin landed on her functional foot, careful to keep the pressure off the other, and Tails' tire iron landed on the floor with a 'clang' as he lowered his guard. After catching their breaths, Tails and Kaolin embraced. The pain from the intense bruising was muted by the mutual feeling of each other's beating hearts, and they both shed tears of joy. As Tails ran his hand over Kaolin's head when he pulled back to gaze at her smiling face, he noticed the hole in her ear, and realized just how blessed she was to have made it through the sniper ordeal. Before he could express his concern, she placed a warm kiss on his lips.

--

Author's note: The action isn't over yet. Final chapter six coming soon! Thank you for reading!

Sonic characters and places are copyright of Sonic Team/Sega

Kaolin, other original characters and ideas, and the story itself are copyright of myself, NuclearCookout


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Ambrose crashed through a light pole after Sonic hit him with a powerful spin-dash, sending the light bulb at the top tumbling to the pavement. The exhausting battle was finally causing the grizzly bear's resolve to begin to run out. Irritated with the fact that their opponents were still keeping them from the nuke, Sonic and the others decided to throw it into full-gear. When Ambrose stood back up, his energy shield briefly flickered, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. Sonic immediately realized the their shields were providing them with added endurance, and NICOLE noticed as well. The small supercomputer suggested to Sally that if she could get close enough to place her within the shields' radii, she could emit a small electromagnetic pulse and short them out, leaving them vulnerable to debilitating attacks. Intrigued by the idea, she approached Rotor, who had just been thrown into a wall, and shared her thoughts on the subject.

"Alright, I'll try," said the beleaguered walrus, rubbing a bruise on his head. Pretty much any idea was a good idea for him, as long as it made the battle end sooner. Sally handed him NICOLE, and he prepared to go on the attack. He waited until Uri's back was turned before proceeding, and when the opportunity arose, he took it. Rotor leapt into the air and tackled Uri again, and pressed NICOLE against Uri's shield belt. The small computer immediately triggered her EMP mechanism, shorting out the belt in an instant. The binturong, again, threw Rotor off, but did so just in time for Knuckles' empowered fists to plow into his side and face. With a huff of fatigue, Uri collapsed, unable to sustain that kind of punishment. Ambrose witnessed Uri's defeat, and, knowing he was losing energy even with his shield, sprinted southward. He didn't even realize he was approaching Mighty's team until it was too late, and he was cut down in a hail of bullets by one of the operatives. Mighty congratulated the quick-thinking agent, then focused his attention back at the two cannon-wielding attackers.

With the threat that Ambrose and Uri posed gone, the Freedom Fighters raced down into the lower parking structure to assist Kaolin, terrified that she might already be dead. They were absolutely awestruck when they saw Kaolin embracing Tails.

"TAILS!" shouted an elated Sonic as he ran toward his injured pal, but he stopped when he noticed all of the fox's injuries. Furthermore, he knew it would have been rude to interrupt their sweet embrace.

Tails smiled warmly, and lightheartedly replied, "Hey there Sonic! Sorry, I'm a bit shorthanded, so you'll have to wait your turn."

"Glad to hear you still have your humor, friend," said Sonic with a chuckle.

The team glanced around at all the destruction, then at the nuke. Their expressions turned to fear when they saw that the timer had been activated. Antoine examined Big, then pointed to a blinking light on the large cat's belt. Big had activated the nuke seconds before being clubbed with the tire iron.

The battle continued to rage between Mighty's team and Big's henchmen. One of them had been hit in the leg, but they continued their relentless assault. Numerous craters dotted the alleyway, and broken glass and fragments of wall material were strewn about. After what seemed like hours of gunfire, one of Big's men was shot in the kneecap as he fired from around a corner, which caused him to stumble out into the open, and he was riddled with round after round of hot ammunition. His reflexes from being hit so many times caused him to fire his weapon at his associate, and both of them died on the spot. With their ancillary objective complete, they met up with the Freedom Fighters, eager to accomplish their main objective.

They, too, were in shock at Tails' return, and though pleased with the outcome, Mighty's group ran past them apace, understandably showing more interest in the nuke. The two primary nuclear technicians, who had survived the entire ordeal, hurried over to the warhead and unpacked their gear. A few minutes passed, and they determined that it was impossible to disarm it. Anything they could think of, whether it be cutting a wire, entering a computer virus, toasting it with an EMP, or simply diassembling it, would trigger the detonator.

As they began talking about simply leaving it there and flying outside of the blast zone, NICOLE scanned the weapon again, and commented, "Wait, attach me to the bomb. I have an idea." Reluctantly, they acquiesced. The small computer searched deep within the abyss of complex programming, and moments later, she said, "I detect something within the coding. We will not be able to disarm it, but I can lower the yield to two kilotons. Further coding is preventing it from going below that."

"Then I suppose we have no choice. Men, prepare to leave," ordered Mighty to his unit. NICOLE lowered the explosive yield, and Sally called their ship back from the stratosphere. A few eyes turned toward Big, wondering what was to become of him. Despite his horrific actions, they wanted to put him on trial instead of letting him die in atomic fire. The stronger group members dragged the heavy cat outside, but as the weaker members approached Fiona's position, they noticed she wasn't there. With his left arm around her, Tails helped Kaolin limp out and to the waiting ship.

Once outside, they checked Uri as well, but left him there after discovering that he had died from internal trauma. The two groups boarded the ship, and with a hiss, the doors closed, and the ship roared off into the sky. A few minutes later, another bright flash was seen. A few city blocks of downtown Station Square were completely destroyed, and other buildings outside of the blast radius were scorched by the intense heat. Tails and Kaolin had an arm around one another as they watched the second mushroom cloud of that terrible day rise into the blue expanse.

The following day, Tails awakened to the sounds of humming medical equipment. He was lying on a cushy white hospital bed, and Kaolin was on a similar bed adjacent to his, sitting up and eating a bowl of cereal. Sonic was asleep on a chair, having stayed there to oversee the success of the operations, and indeed, both of the foxes had received ample overnight medical treatment for their wounds. The bone fragments in Kaolin's ankle had been reassembled, and a large cast had been applied. Though the hole in her ear could have been fixed easily, she decided to leave it alone as a symbol of having survived the day that would live in infamy. Tails' severed nerve had been reconnected, and he was expected to regain full functionality in that arm within a month.

"Good to see you awake, Tails. How are you feeling?" asked the smiling Kaolin as she lovingly gazed into Tails' eyes.

Happy to see his girlfriend in safety and good spirits, Tails returned the smile and answered, "I feel pretty good, though I'm more concerned for you. You took, eh, quite a beating back there."

Kaolin replied, "They patched the wound in my upper leg very well, and my ankle should be back to full functional capacity within weeks! My shoulder still hurts a little, though, even with the painkillers." She ate another spoonful of cereal, then looked at her boyfriend again, but with a more solemn countenance, and asked, "Hey, uh, what...what was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Not being alive."

"Oh, the roof thing. It was...strange, to say the least. When my heart stopped beating, I was met by a flash of white light, and what happened immediately after was...I felt like I stepped off a train and into an...an absolutely incredible place. I was surrounded by a feeling of pure comfort and joy, and what I saw in that realm was beautiful far beyond anything anyone has ever described or probably could ever describe. I saw people I had met in the past who are no longer alive, and they were all smiling and talking amongst themselves. I tried to get close, but when they saw me, they had astonished expressions. One of them asked me what I was doing there, and said that it wasn't my time yet. They told me I had to go back and save Kaolin, and told me exactly where to go. More and more people appeared around me, apparently trying to keep me from seeing what was there, and I was lightly pushed backwards. I saw another flash, and the next thing I knew, I was gasping for air. I was paralyzed for what felt like hours, and when I regained my ability to move, I went as fast as I could to rescue you."

Deeply moved by Tails' delineation, Kaolin responded, "Oh wow. That's amazing," and couldn't find anymore words. Things got quiet for a few minutes. The subject of the roof incident caused Kaolin to remember the engagement ring. Simultaneously, Tails was thinking about it as well. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Okay, I'm tired of waiting. I doubt this is the most romantic place to ask, but at the risk of another yesterday occurring, better now than later. Kaolin, will y-..."

"Yes."

"You'll marr-..."

"Yes...yes...YES! I will. I definately will, without any second thought."

They both immediately got off their beds and kissed passionately, completely ignoring the blaring heart monitors and other devices.

--

Author's notes -

Well, after week upon week of procrastination, Hover Beyond finally done. Each of the previous chapters have been updated as well. I'll probably write another sequel instead of ending the series here, but before that, I plan to write an inbetween story covering the events at Mercia. If you read this story, please leave a review!

For a link to a song that I'd possibly choose for the closing credits if this was (for whatever reason) turned into an animated film, please visit my profile.

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Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega  
Kaolin, story, original characters, etc © NuclearCookout


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